You may remember my post from a few weeks ago about how obnoxious using your cell phone at the dinner table can be.  I was referencing a New York Times article that argued, akin to my own feelings on cell phone etiquette, that there are certain times when playing (or working) on your cell phone can be plain rude.  Interestingly enough, another article published in today’s New York Times by Alex Williams aims to justify (or at least explain) why people think it’s ok to use their cell phones when anyone else in the room, namely a snob like myself, might be slightly put off.  That article can be read here

Having gone through high school and college during the years where the cell phone took off and one found its way in to nearly everyone's hand, it was always interesting to notice in which settings our teachers and various advisors told us we could or couldn’t use our cell phone.  Whether making a phone call or fooling around with text messages, our brains were imprinted with a set of guidelines that as far as I could tell would never change.  I never would have thought twice about checking my phone in the middle of any kind of professional meeting or class, even though I could feel it, and sometimes even hear it, vibrating in my pant pocket.  Over the last few years, and especially having gone on a number of job interviews, I’ve noticed people more important than myself breaking those rules.  I’m not about to tell someone that they’re being rude.  Still, this article in today’s times shocked me in that there is actually an ongoing trend towards which this kind of obnoxious behavior is becoming more widely accepted and even encouraged.

While there’s always that guy who sits in the back of a meeting and plays aimless games on his smartphone for its entire duration, apparently there’s also the guy who sits in the back twiddling with his phone productively taking notes.  There may be a number of companies that prohibit employees from using phones in meetings, but there are some companies that condone it just as another way to cut costs.  Forget paper, forget a laptop, just take notes on your blackberry, its already with you anyway.  For real?  My only hope is that soon enough, someone will lead an effective movement to reestablish what constitutes appropriate etiquette in the workplace.  Because the fact remains, as the world continues to change and technology continues to improve, no one knows what we’re in store for and the rules and social norms only seem to get made up as we go along.  Did anyone see the movie ‘Wall-E’? If we’re not careful that’ll be us one day, forgetting how to walk because we’ll have such sweet machines to take us everywhere with the push of a button.